Rebel Flower
by An Artists Account
Summary: tattooed Roses, annoying little sisters and a deep secret. And we haven't even got to Hogwarts yet. My life just got complicated...Again.


**So my new years resolution was to completely go through my stories online here and rewrite some of them, or add the punctuation that is missing and generally just make them a little better so that is what I am doing here.**

**I have decided to merge this two shot into a one shot simply because I feel it works better that. I'm sorry, but this is not a new chapter, simply a re-hash of the old ones.**

**Happy reading.**

**a.a.a. **

"Rose! ROSE! Wait up-What in the name of Merlin's most baggy have you done to youreslf?"

Rose spun on her heel and scowled at me with the confidence only one who had told since birth she's better than everyone else can have.

"You said you were going to stop! One last one and that was going to be it!"

"Oh shut up Scorpius, you sound like an old women."

"How does your mother let you go out like this? You've been using yourself as parchment!"

"I revise that. You _are_ an old women."

"Old women don't have abs like I do."

"You're right, you're more of a pudgy three-year-old."

"I resent that!"

"Do I look like I care?"

"WEASLEY!"

"MALFOY!"

"SHUT UP THE PAIR OF YOU!"

"Sorry Al." We both muttered sullenly

"Honestly, you wouldn't know you're best friends the way you carry on."

We scowled at each other.

"I still can't believe your mother lets you do that to yourself." I muttered petulantly, unwilling to let a perfectly good argument go.

Rose went for her wand but Al intervened, throwing himself between the two of us with no thought for his own personally safety (He's brave that way) murmuring: "Easy now, easy now."

"I am NOT a horse Albus Severus Potter and it's no business of his if I decide to get a new tattoo or not."

For the first time Al's eyes flickered towards Rose's bare shoulders and the twirling design there. He raised his eyebrows and stepped sharply back to me, out of harm's way.

"Interference amended. What on earth do you think you're playing at, walking around half dressed?"

Rose huffed, "Not you as well."

"You're showing your shoulders. Do you think I want every boy over the age of twelve ogling _my_ cousin and saying-"

"Saying _what?" _She spat before turning sharply and stalking off to join Lily who was standing in front of the scarlet Hogwarts Express, talking to Molly and Lucy.

I punched Al lightly on the arm. "Well done. Now she probably won't sit with us the train!"

"Oh I'm sorry!" He said sarcastically, "Did I upset your ogling time?"

"Shut up Al," I flushed a deep pink, (and people say gingers are the ones who turn red) and started off down the platform after Rose. A few moments later I heard Albus fall into step beside me.

"Sorry mate. Low blow."

I sighed, "You know perfectly well how I feel about your cousin so there's no need to brain me about it. It's not like anything would ever happen either. I mean, look at her."

We both looked at her.

Al shook his head. "I just don't get what you see in her. She's got two eye, a nose and a mouth like everyone else. And she's a red head."

I laughed. "Just because your lusting after a certain brunette Longbottom. And her hair isn't red, it's auburn. And her eyes are the like the sky on a really good quidditch day. And her smile..." I sighed dreamily.

"You were the one complaining she uses herself as a piece of parchment."

"She does! Through they do look amazing. Have you seen her when she's wearing that really see-through top? She's got this really complicated pattern of butterflies all up the left side of her back. And once she bent over and right at the top of her leg-"

"Enough! I do not need the image of Rose's bum tattoo's in my head, thank you very much. It's disturbing enough that you were looking in the first place."

"What do you think of her new one. The flowers all over her shoulder, all intertwined with spells and music notes?"

"I suppose. I didn't really look earlier, I was too busy being horrified about the amount of bare flesh she was bandying around."

"If I had bare flesh like hers, I'd bandy it around too."

"Scorp, mate. You're the most commonly topless boy in the whole school. You had your shirt off practically all summer. And at Quidditch practise. And when we were revising outside. And-"

"Okay, okay." I held my hands in a 'I surrender' sort of way and smiled. "Though if I remember correctly, you seemed to be topless for most of that time as well. Poor Alice Longbottom couldn't get enough of it."

We both laughed.

"Alice has good taste."

"Modest much Potter?"

"Got over Weasley much Malfoy?"

"Not that she'll look at me at Hogwarts with McClaggen hanging around her like a drunk fly."

"A lot can happen before you even get to Hogwarts." Al said wisely.

"Wisdom you speak Omni Potter."

"What are you two babbling on about? Worse than a pair of girls you two."

"We resent that." Al and I said in unison as Rose strolled back over to us, Lily in tow. Lucy and Molly were now saying goodbye to their boyfriends in the most non-verbal way possible. I really hoped their father wasn't watching.

"Hey Sis," Al grinned down at Lily who hadn't inherited their father's height.

"Yope Bro. Where's Alice?" Though her personality definitely made up for that.

"Shut up Sis."

"Sure thing Bro."

I glanced over at Rose, while the two siblings continued to bicker, good-humouredly.

She grinned wickedly and put a finger to her lips.

"Oh hello Alice! Fancy seeing you here."

Albus went red and spun round, his hand immediately flying to his hair.

"What? Where?"

The three of us where too busy cracking up to reply.

"Very funny." He huffed, shoving his round glasses up his nose.

"Just ask her out mate. It's not like you haven't had enough practise or anything."

It's true. Al and I don't really live the life of solitary monks. Neither has Lily, much to the annoyance of her older brothers. And as for Rose..

Rose plays life to her own beats. She's dated her way through most of the good-looking guys in the school that she's not related to (which isn't actually as many as one would think), and excluding me, (I have no idea why) but tends to dump them after a few dates. She's the kind of girl who doesn't really fit into a cliché. She's arty, pretty and really into partying (I know, I've seen her). She's also every teacher's worst nightmare. One of the smartest kids in the school (if not _the_ smartest) but never bothers to work, much to the chagrin of her mother, who seems to imagine her eldest child as a miniature little Hermione Weasley. All books and brains.

I don't think I've ever actually seen Rose revise once. Even for our O.W.L.s last summer, which reminded me...

"What did you lot get in your OWLs?"

"Four Exceeds Expectation's, two Outstanding's and a handful of Acceptable's." Al reeled off.

"What about you Rose?"

"What?" She snapped her gaze around to mine. "I don't know, I think I did okay..."

"Dozy." Lily giggled. "She got all O's apart from History of Magic and Ancient Runes, in which, this little miss amazing here got an E."

"How do you know that?" Rose looked bemused. "And more importantly, how on Earth do you remember all that?"

"Natural brilliance. And you always dump all your old parchment under your mattress."

"Oh. Do I really?"

"Really really. Come on, trains about to go."

"I'll see you two later." Rose yelled over one shoulder as Lily towed her off towards their parents and entourage. "Save me a seat!"

"Wow. Okay. Seat, no problemo." I stuttered after her retreating back.

"Did you really just say 'No problemo?" Albus stared at me like I'd grown another head. I quickly put one hand up to check that I hadn't (I wouldn't put it past Al) then blinked stupidly, like a love sick fool.

"You were acting like a love sick fool, you know that Scorp?"

"I really need to learn Occlumency." I muttered, before following him back up the platform, elbowing my way through students, animals, trunks and some other stuff that I had no idea what it was.

"Scorp!" Squeaked a very high voice from behind me and a very small, very excited eleven year old cannoned into me.

"Ooof!"

"Hey, Cassie." Albus bent down next to me and formerly shook my little sister's hand.

"Hello Albus." Cassiopeia smiled back. Did I mention my sister is a very smiley sort of person?

"And would you be starting Hogwarts this fine day, Gentle Lady?"

"That I would Fine Sir." Cassie laughed.

It was one of the strangest things I'd ever seen, the way Al and Cassie had just seemed to click. They'd first met when Al had come back to mine for Christmas in Third Year. I tended to ignore my little sister (she is five years younger than me after all and far too interested in playing dragons and princesses for my taste) but Al had included her in, well, everything.

They'd even started this game of Knight and Damsel that they were playing now.

I sat up, rubbing my sore backside and allowed myself a small chuckle. Albus had Cassie on his back and was pretending to be a horse.

"Don't do that darling, it looks like your bottoms about to fall off."

"Hey Mum."

Astoria Malfoy swooped down on me, tugging my father close behind her and pecked my cheek. "I wondered where you'd got too." Her eyes travelled to Al and Cassie. "Ah yes. I should have known. The irresistible heart-throbs of Hogwarts."

"Mum!" I flushed as Albus came over, hand in hand with Cassie.

"Hello Mrs. Malfoy, Mr. Malfoy." He said politely (Al always manages to magically produce manners whenever my parents are around.)

"Hello dear. How are you?"

"Good thank you."

"And your family?"

"Great thanks. How are you?"

"Fine thank you dear. All sorted for Hogwarts?"

"Yes thanks Mrs. Malfoy."

"Oi Al! Get your over-inflated-Oh, hi Mrs. Malfoy."

Mum looked like she wanted to laugh. "Hello Lily dear."

"Come on, we're going to miss the train."

"Coming Miss Bossy-Boots." Al saluted her and slid Cassie off his shoulders.

Lily put her hands on her hips and gave him such a Ginny Weasley-ish look that I was surprised he didn't wilt on the spot. "Real mature, Potter."

"That's why you love me."

"No chance." She turned to me, opening her mouth but I cut in first.

"Uh-huh, keep me out of this. I value my limbs too much to get between you and your brother in an argument."

She pursued her lips in annoyance. "I was only going to say that Rose was looking for you."

I felt my heart lurch. "Oh?"

"She wants to squish you like a grape for annoying her earlier. "

"_WHAT!"_

"Joking, joking. Well, I think anyway. No, she said to tell you that she's in the fourth compartment from the end and she'll meet you there in three and a half minutes or else."

"Or else what?" Al asked.

"How am I supposed to know? I'm just the messenger." She knelt down in front of Cassie and tucked one or her dark curls behind her ear.

"You wanna sit with us Twinkle?"

Cassie looked into lily's big brown eyes with something like reverence in her face. "Can I?"

"Sure you can. As long as I get to do your hair. Deal?"

Cassie glowed. "Deal."

I sighed. It was going to be a long train journey.

-0-

"Malfoy! Stop staring at me, it's freaking me out." Lily snapped, not looking up from Cassie's hair which she was twisting into some complicated looking French braid. I started.

"I'm not." I'd much rather be ogling Rose. Complete with tattoos and all.

"That's right," Al joined in. "He'd much rather be looking at Ro-OOF! What was that for you imbecile of a Gryffindor?"

I leant back in my window seat, rubbing my knuckles as Al bent over, clutching his stomach. Rose looked bemusedly at us both.

"You do know you're crazy don't you?" She asked, then pulled out a pack of Exploding Snap cards, shuffling them expertly. "Not that you're not lovely to look at Lily, I'm sure"

"How the hell do you know Rose? Is there something you're not telling us?" Al glanced between both his glaring cousins, wilted and turned back to me.

"Blimey, you make a joke..."

"Oh, you are so like Uncle Ron." Lily said, disparagingly.

"URGH! He likes the Chudley Cannons. Bottom of the League. _Again. _ That's gotta be the hundredth year running."

"Oh, yeah. Because your Quidditch team is so much better. What was it again? Oh I remember, the Wimbourne Wasps wasn't it? I seem to remember that they only just beat the Chudley Cannons last season!"

"Al my friend!" I gasped, horror-struck, "You've lied to me all these years. You swore you were a Tornados fanatic like me!"

"I lied." Al said, quite cheerfully, over Lily, Roses and Cassie's laughter.

The three girls looked at each and then said all together. "Holy-Head Harpies all the way!"

Al snorted. "You're just biased because your mum was Captain for ages."

"Er, _hello_ clever. She's your mother too. Forget we're related?"

Al put on a look of long suffering. "Dang it! You just had to go and remind me didn't you. And I'd almost completely forgotten as well."

"Well I like that!"

Cassie, hair now finished, clambered up on the seat beside me leaving the Potter's to their increasingly aggressive argument.

"They're very noisy aren't they, your friends."

"You have no idea Cass," I smirked. "So, nervous about Hogwarts?"

"Well I was. But Lily said that if anyone gives me any trouble she'll hex them into oblivion. I don't know what oblivion is but it sounds great!"

"Lily's giving you bad ideas." I snorted. "What about Al?"

"Al's going to be my husband when I'm older."

"_WHAT?_"

"Yeah, didn't he tell you. He promised me when I was six and we were playing Fairies and Unicorns."

"Al?" I asked. He looked away from his sister who was attempting to shove something very big and very green in his face (I didn't ask.)

"What?"

"Is it true that you and my little sister are engaged?"

"Oh that. Sure, Cassie right?"

She beamed up at him. "He's given me a ring and everything. Look." She pulled out a large silver ring, slid it onto her finger and waggled it under my nose.

"It's lovely Cass," I managed, then: "URGH!"

"High five junior!" Al grinned as Cassie slid off the seat and across to Al, leaving me covered in pond slime and unfortunately out of throttling distance. Lily was rolling around on the seat and Rose was actually on the floor, almost unable to breathe from the snorts of laughter that were racking her body.

"Y-you _face_." She squeaked.

"You mean..." I said, feeling slightly dazed. "You planned that whole..."

"Not planned my good man," Al fell of his seat to join Rose on the floor, "Choreographed. Because that was not a plan. That was A Performance!"

"Why did you capitalize the 'A' and the 'Performance'?" Cassie asked with interest. We all ignored her, except for Lily who began to explain that her brother was An Idiot (yes, capitalized) and not to listen to anything he ever said.

"Are you telling me, that you knew Cass was starting Hogwarts today, gave Cass that ring, got everyone in this compartment involved, started a fight with Lily to distract my attention and planned, no sorry _choreographed_ the whole thing to play an elaborate hoax on _me_!"

My manly voice grew steadily higher and higher throughout that speech.

"Pretty much. Though the argument with Lily was purely a spur of the moment thing."

"I thought she wasn't attacking you with her normal vigour." Rose giggled.

"Small recompense." I muttered.

Cassie let out a high pitched giggle. "I bet you wish it was you and Rose who were getting married."

Oh the innocence of an eleven year old...Wait! What did she just say...

"What?" Rose asked Cassie, a warning note reverberating in her voice. Everyone in the compartment apart from Cassie immediately through themselves down on their faces in the grenade position.

"He was staring at you all the time you were talking to me." She explained. I felt my face flame up. I shot Cassie a 'Stop speaking now or die' look.

Cassie didn't seem to be receiving my telepathic pleas however and continued obliviously. "Yeah, and he's been talking about you all summer." The flush was creeping down my neck now. "And when I snuck into his room once," Cassie, stop please. I'll tidy your bedroom for a month, a year, please! "And he has this massive book of all these pictures of you and him, laughing and stuff."

I slumped in my seat and tried to look like a trunk.

Rose looked from me to Cassie and back to me again before getting up and wandering out of the compartment door into the aisle. The compartment was very quiet as everyone slowly sat up and I picked my way between the bodies still lying in grenade position on the floor to the door which I quietly closed behind me, then as a second thought, charmed close so no Extendable Ears could get through. I did not need the Potter children hearing my humiliation, not to mention my sister!

I found Rose in a small bathroom about six compartments along, examining herself in a mirror.

I leant against the doorframe and watched her as she pushed a hand through her auburn curls then turned to face me.

She pulled her hair over one shoulder and turned her back to me so I could see the top of her back where her top didn't cover her skin.

"Um Rose...?" I said, slightly confused.

"Use your eyes for once Malfoy. You were given the gift of sight, use it for crying out loud."

So I used them. And I saw the tattoo.

"Er, Rose...Why have you got a crab on your back?"

"It's a scorpion you mutton-headed baboon!"

"Can one be a mutton-headed baboon?"

Her glare was answer enough.

"Sorry! Sorry...So er, Rose? Why do you have a scorpion on your shoulder?"

"ARGH! You are a sleazy, slimy, sticky, stinky, scum bucket of maggot vomit and hippogriff poo and if you were being torn apart by rapid bowtruckles I would be standing by merrily selling popcorn and firewhiskey and UMPH!"

"Shut up Rose." I said, then reached out and grabbed her shoulders, pulled her towards me and kissed her.

Al had been right.

A lot can happen before you even get to Hogwarts.


End file.
